Unfortunate Ambassador
by PrairieLily
Summary: PreTwilight, the team faces an international mystery. 3 chapters added daily. McAbby implied only, but no pairings otherwise. Final 3 chapters up... COMPLETE!
1. Out of Their Jurisdiction

**Title:** Unfortunate Ambassador

**Rating:** T. Some language, nothing too graphic with imagery or language.

**Disclaimer**: Gibbs, McGee, Tony, Kate, Ducky, and Palmer do not belong to me. The other characters are mine.

**Summary:** The team faces an international mystery. McAbby implied.

**Author's note:** While the beautiful maritime province of Prince Edward Island is indeed known for (among other things) its unique red soil, and while there is a CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Halifax, our largest naval base for the Royal Canadian Navy, the HMCS (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship) Diefenbaker does not exist. And please be gentle, some of my plot points may be questionable, so just enjoy the story for the story!

* * *

**Out of Their Jurisdiction**

"What have we got, Ducky?" Gibbs asked briskly, as he walked into autopsy.

"Well, Jethro, Mr. Palmer delivered a DNA sample to Abigail for analyses and possible identification. No word on dental records as yet though. She has Timothy working with her in the lab. They do have a composite photograph of what he most likely looked like in life. That would appear to be our best chance, if indeed he's listed anywhere in the missing persons database."

"Well then Duck, what else can you tell me?"

Ducky sighed. "C.O.D. is a bit tricky to determine right now, due to the advanced state of his decomposition. I'm afraid he did not travel well, Jethro. But my initial observation based upon the state of his internal organs, and the apparent lack of…"

Gibbs was impatient. "Cut to the chase, please Ducky," he said, sounding tired.

The older man sighed. "Exsanguination, Jethro. I do believe that something happened to make him bleed to death."

Gibbs sighed. "Well, that's a start. Anything else?"

Ducky smiled humourlessly. "Yes, in fact. He does appear to be a sailor of some kind, judging by the remnants of his uniform. But, it seems off, somehow, the uniform, I mean. Oh, and his features are unmistakably Native American."

McGee entered autopsy with Abby, a file folder in his hand. "Actually, Ducky, he's not Native American. He's First Nations. Plains Cree, to be more specific." Gibbs scowled at him. "What the hell's the difference, McGee?"

McGee looked at Abby, sharing a knowing look with her, the look that allowed them to roll their eyes at Gibbs without actually rolling their eyes at Gibbs. "The difference, Boss, is that Native Americans are, well, American. And First Nations is how they are referred to in Canada. The uniform is Royal Canadian Navy," McGee announced.

Gibbs turned and looked at them, eyebrows raised. "He's CANADIAN?" he said, in disbelief.

"I think he's out of our jurisdiction, Gibbs," Abby said, with a shrug.

Gibbs looked at McGee, expectantly. McGee tilted his head and obliged his boss. "It took some doing to ID him, Boss. Obviously there's no record of him with the U.S. Navy. So we had to dig a little deeper, consider that maybe he wasn't American," McGee reached into his folder and pulled out a large 8x10 of something faded and obscure. "Especially considering this," he said.

"Wanna guess what it is?" Abby asked, giddily, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. Gibbs frowned at her, and took the picture from McGee's offering hands. "It looks like some sort of insignia badge. No… wait, it's discoloured but it looks vaguely like a flag of some kind." McGee nodded, satisfied. "The Canadian flag, to be precise. From our vic's uniform." Abby nodded, and continued, "AND, if he was this far from home, in what we assumed was a uniform, at least, what was LEFT of a uniform…" She paused as Gibbs glared at her. She glared at him back, and finished, "You want the whole story, don't you? Didn't anyone ever tell you that patience is a virtue, Gibbs?" Gibbs frowned. "Do I LOOK virtuous to you, Abs?" Abby ignored the reprimand, and finished, "We started at the most obvious place, geographically speaking, and also based on his race, and worked our way out. Didn't take long after that, considering he's just from north of the border." Gibbs glared at them impatiently.

McGee opened the folder in his hand, and read from the page on the top of the stack. "Able Seaman Matthew Moonchild. Born and raised on a Plains Cree reservation in central Saskatchewan, joined the Royal Canadian Navy right out of high school. He was stationed at Canadian Forces Base Halifax, and he'd been deployed to Afghanistan on the HMCS Diefenbaker, but returned to base with his ship 6 months ago. During his deployment he was awarded a commendation for saving three of his shipmates during an on-board fire. He was living on the base with his wife, and his commanding officer reported him AWOL two weeks ago. He was scheduled to return to base after a 7 day leave, but he was a no-show, and his wife insisted that something must have happened to him." Just then, Tony walked in, with Kate.

"Captain Jackson Douglas, Moonchild's C.O., reports that he was an exemplary sailor. Never a sniff of trouble. Apparently it's not like him at all to just up and bugger off like that, especially considering that he has a newborn son and a gorgeous wife. The Captain has nothing but good to say about him, Boss." Tony paused, then continued, "He says he's had a bad feeling since Moonchild failed to report back to base, and when his wife reported him missing, that only confirmed it for him," said Tony. He looked at McGee, who glanced into his folder, and continued, "They've been actively searching for him ever since. The RCMP even got involved at first, jointly with the Navy, since he vanished without a trace during leave, and was last reported seen off base, in civilian territory." He looked at Tony, cueing him to continue. "Unfortunately, from a forensics standpoint, it rained most of that week in Halifax. So of course, once the Mounties had found out all they could from their end, what little evidence they'd managed to dig up that the rain hadn't obliterated, was turned over to the Navy, as well as the investigation itself."

Kate nodded, and said, "We're still trying to find out for how much of his leave his presence was accounted for. That could leave his TOD at anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks. Too big of a window, if you ask me."

"We will be able to help you with that soon enough," Ducky volunteered, from the table.

Gibbs glared at nobody in particular. "How the hell did an active duty Canadian sailor from Nova Scotia end up all the damn way down here, on Ducky's table?"

Nobody had an answer. "Virginia IS quite a jump from the east coast of Canada," McGee said, observantly, realizing that Gibbs' question was mostly rhetorical, but nonetheless wanting to break the awkward silence.

"Well, gentlemen, ladies," Ducky said, "if you will kindly excuse Mr. Palmer and myself, perhaps we can find more answers for you, to unravel our mysterious neighbour's presence on our doorsteps."

"We need to get our findings sofar back to Halifax, Boss," Tony said. "His Captain needs to confirm our identification, so his wife can be informed. And we still need to determine if it's up to us or not to investigate. The RCN is pretty far out of our jurisdiction." Kate nodded. "If we can determine how and where he died, and if it was foul play on American soil, we may have justification to continue. That might put this back in our laps again. Otherwise, if it turns out he died in Canada and somehow ended up here post-mortem…" she trailed off. Gibbs finished, "We'll have to send him back without answers."

Gibbs turned and led the way out of autopsy. "Give us a reason to continue this investigation, Duck. I want to know how and why he ended up here, dead. The sooner the better. He has a long journey back home again."


	2. Mystery Compounding Mystery

**Mystery Compounding Mystery**

Tony sat at his desk and sighed with frustration. "Any luck, McGee?" he asked, frowning.

McGee looked up from his desk. "None whatsoever. All I've been able to determine sofar is that he vanished without a trace on the last day of his leave. It narrows the TOD window a little bit, but essentially…" he trailed off.

Tony grunted. "Essentially, that still leaves us with jack." McGee said nothing, but nodded, then turned back to his computer.

"There is something else we need to figure out, too," McGee said, suddenly. Tony looked up. "Great, another mystery to solve." Kate approached her desk and sat down. "Why Moonchild was in uniform if he was on leave, Tim?" she asked. McGee looked up at her and nodded towards her affirmatively. "You're right, that makes no sense. And interviewing witnesses is gonna be a little inconvenient," Tony said, still sounding exasperated.

"McGee, he was found in a shipping container. Do we know where exactly that container was located?" Tony asked, suddenly.

McGee was heard typing rapidly as Tony and Kate both gazed over at him expectantly.

"Norfolk has received cargo from Halifax," he finally said. "I can't seem to nail down specifically which container it is though." Tony nodded thoughtfully. "Halifax makes sense, that's where he was from. So we'd have to go and actually check them out, look for trace evidence." McGee nodded, regretfully.

"Halifax?" Kate groaned. I was hoping it would be a little smaller than that."

"It still might be, Kate," Tony said hopefully. "I mean, would he venture as far away as into the city if his wife and baby were still at home on base? Why weren't they with him?"

"Ummmm… because the baby is a baby?" McGee said, sounding like he'd just been forced to overstate the obvious. Tony made a face at him, and Kate rolled her eyes at the pair of them, even if she was sometimes forced to admit to herself that if she had a choice in the matter, she'd rather have these two clowns for her brothers, than her real brothers. At least Tony and Tim were only intermittently insane.

"The shipping container," Kate said, looking at her own computer, "what do we know about that? Was Moonchild in it when it left, or did he somehow find his way into it later on?"


	3. Mr Palmer, we have a problem

**Mr. Palmer, we have a problem**

"Dr. Mallard, look at this," Jimmy said, studying something on the back of the corpse.

Ducky went over to the table where his assistant was working. He bent over to take a closer look at what Jimmy was pointing out to him.

"Post-mortem lividity marks," Ducky said, interest in his voice. "They're very subtle, aren't they Jimmy? Our victim bled to death, therefore, he hadn't much blood left to settle with the assistance of gravity. That coupled with his darker skin tone, and the effects of decomposition… But if we were to photograph them, I'm sure that either Abigail or Timothy could enhance them."

Jimmy went over to a table and picked up a picture taken at the scene. "This is what the floor of the container looked like," he said, carrying it over to Ducky. Ducky looked over and studied the photograph. In spite of the vagueness of the markings on the body, something was definitely… hinky. "Oh, my. Mr. Palmer, we have a problem."


	4. Answers Revealing

**Answers Revealing**

Gibbs was pissed. He still had too many questions, and not enough answers.

He had just gotten off the phone with Captain Jackson Douglas, Base Commander at CFB Halifax. The Captain had sounded regretful when Gibbs had broken the news to him about their positive identification.

"Special Agent Gibbs, we will of course be continuing our own investigation from up here," he had said. "If you would be so kind, I'm willing to share information if you are."

Gibbs had seemed agreeable to it. "Captain Douglas, we're still trying to determine if your young Able Seaman died on American soil or not. Anything you can tell us to lead us to a speedy conclusion on this will be much appreciated. We want to send him home as soon as possible."

"Thank you," the base commander said. "We really appreciate this. Mrs. Moonchild is taking this very hard. And Matthew's shipmates… they're still in a state of disbelief. We want him home as much as you do, believe me, Agent Gibbs."

"Captain, my agents have raised an interesting question. Why was Able Seaman Moonchild in uniform, if he was on leave?"

Captain Douglas had paused a moment. "His shipmates reported that they had arranged an impromptu celebration for him off base, in the city. They insisted that he be in uniform for it. It was arranged by the men he had saved in the fire onboard the Diefenbaker. They were extremely grateful, as you can imagine. They wanted to honour him properly. Matthew was a modest man, Agent Gibbs. He wasn't into accolades and big public displays of recognition. He was humble. He saw what he did on the Diefenbaker as being just another day at sea. He really wasn't even that comfortable with the official commendation."

Gibbs had nodded. "I see, Captain. Well, we'll be in contact with you again as soon as we know anything. Thank you," he said, as the man on the other end also bid goodbye, and Gibbs hung up.

Abby looked up as Jimmy suddenly appeared in her lab. "Hey Palmer," she said, smiling. Jimmy blushed, and smiled bashfully, then cleared his throat. "Uh, Dr. Mallard wanted you to see if you could determine where these marks might have come from," he said to her. Abby took the post-mortem photo from Jimmy's offering hands and studied it carefully.

"We don't know where it's from, just where it isn't from."

Abby made a face. "I gather it isn't from the shipping container?" Jimmy nodded at her, almost regretfully. "He didn't die there, and wherever he was when he died, it left those marks on his back. He was moved into the container quite some time after the fact."

Abby sighed. "I'll get right on it," she smiled at him. Jimmy smiled back, then turned around just in time to find himself face-to-face with McGee.

McGee smiled at him sweetly, a grin that chilled Jimmy's blood slightly. "I was just, uh… leaving," Jimmy stammered, stumbling around the taller man and out through the doors. Abby fired a dirty look at him. "Was that really necessary?" she scolded. McGee raised an eyebrow and frowned. "What? I didn't do anything!" he said, defensively. Abby rolled her eyes and muttered, "Special Agent He-man. Hmph." McGee's frown deepened as he turned and got back to work, and Abby smiled to herself. God, she loved it when he did that, got all territorial on her. And teasing him about it was just the icing on the cake. She glanced over at him - he still looked a little wounded. Oh well, she thought. She'd more than make it up to him later.


	5. Damn

**Damn**

Tony stared at his computer. "Oh, damn," he said, giving his computer a dirty look.

"What?" McGee said, as he strolled back into the bullpen. Tony looked at him and motioned him over.

McGee peered over Tony's shoulder, his frown becoming deeper by the second. "Damn," he said, finally.

"What?" Kate said, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. McGee and Tony both looked at her. "Come see for yourself," McGee said, a distinctly unhappy tone in his voice. Kate approached and peered at the screen. "Damn," she muttered.

Gibbs looked up from his desk, glaring at his agents one by one. Tony cleared his throat. "The container our guy was found in was never docked in Nova Scotia. Or anywhere on the East coast of Canada, for that matter."

"Where was it then?" Gibbs said, sounding increasingly pissed at the vagueness his team was displaying.

"It's been at Norfolk for the past 5 weeks," McGee said.

Gibbs sighed. "Damn," he muttered.


	6. Red Island Soil

**Red Island Soil**

"He was FOUND in the container in Norfolk. But we have trace on his body that is specific to one of the Maritime provinces in Canada." McGee was adamant. Gibbs raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"The red soil on Prince Edward Island is distinctive. Ducky found red soil on Moonchild's uniform. Abby tested it. Three times. There's just absolutely no doubt where it's from."

Tony found himself in the unlikely position to back McGee up on this one.

"That soil is specific to one place, and one place only. And it isn't Nova Scotia." McGee looked at him and nodded slightly in thanks.

"So, maybe the container he died in had been to Prince Edward Island, then back to Halifax?" Kate was thinking out loud. Tony was silent as he processed. "He went missing from Nova Scotia. Not Prince Edward Island. That would explain why we found trace evidence on him that wasn't found in the Norfolk container."

Gibbs was scowling. "So, how did he end up switching containers? What happened to him? Guys, I hate to say it, but it's sounding more and more like he died at home. This may be out of our hands."

His team sighed and groaned. "Boss, we've come too far. We can't assume anything," McGee pleaded, utilizing his baby-faced pout.

"Hate to say it, but McGee's right," Tony added, shrugging. "Boss, give us a chance? We can work this from our end, solve the mystery in reverse order. Work our way back to when he was still alive, in Halifax. We may be his only chance to find the answers that his family and friends need."

Gibbs got up out of his chair. "The clock is ticking, guys. You've got 24 hours. Don't waste a single minute of it. We're sending him home tomorrow… with or without answers. I simply can't justify this investigation much longer."

The team sighed again, this time with gratitude and relief.

…………………………………………………………………………

Gibbs sat at his desk thinking.

Tony and Kate were chasing leads, and McGee was back in the lab, helping Abby process evidence.

He was startled when his phone rang.

"Special Agent Gibbs, this is Captain Douglas. I think I've got something interesting for you."

Gibbs smiled. "Captain, if it isn't too presumptuous… if you would like to call me Jethro, I'd like to dispense with the formalities and just call you Jackson."

A deep chuckle was heard on the other end. "No, Jethro, it isn't too presumptuous. Able Seaman Moonchild seems to have become an ambassador, of sorts, hasn't he?" Gibbs chuckled briefly. "Jackson, we've found trace on your guy that suggests he was in a container that had once held cargo from Prince Edward Island." There was a silence on the other end, as the Canadian officer seemed to process this newest bit of information. "We do have cargo shipped back and forth between here and The Island. We have found a witness, though."

Gibbs sat up, intrigued. "Oh?"

"A local homeless person reported having seen a young man in uniform being mugged near the docks. But this person is known to the authorities as being, well, not quite all there. But I think it bears serious consideration, considering the evidence we have now."

"Did this witness say what they saw happen, I mean, other than the mugging?"

Captain Douglas didn't hesitate. "Yes, Jethro, in fact they did. They reported seeing a motion being made, like you would make if you were stabbing someone. Then he got scared and ran off. But you did say that Matthew bled to death?"

"Yeah, that was our M.E.'s official finding. So it's possible that he was stabbed, stuffed in a shipping container, then left to die?"

"It's sounding more and more like that. But you still don't know how he ended up in a container in Norfolk, that hadn't moved off of dry land in 5 weeks."

"We're working on that, Jackson. Believe me, we want to send him home with answers. A man with his sense of honour deserves nothing less than that."


	7. Good work, guys

**Good work, guys**

"Gibbs, we think we found something." Kate strode into the office with Tony close behind.

"A container in Norfolk was found, with copious amounts of blood on the floor. Samples are on their way for Abby to run a DNA comparison."

"Boss," McGee said, as he hurried in, "We just confirmed that a shipment was received in Norfolk in a container that had not only…" Abby bounded in, and said, "Drum roll please!" then grinned at McGee. McGee shook his head at her, smiling, then continued, "not only been used to shuttle cargo back and forth between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, but," as Abby started a soft throaty "Rrrrrrrrrr" as accompaniment, "has just started to be utilized for international exports as well."

Kate and Tony shared a look with each other, then looked at McGee and Abby and grinned. "We found it. And it had a pool of blood on the floor," Kate said. "A really big pool of blood on the floor," Tony grinned triumphantly. Gibbs shook his head as Tony and McGee shared a high-five, followed quickly by Abby and Kate doing the same.

"We've sent samples down to the lab for you, Abby," Kate said. "We also found traces of what we're pretty sure is that famous Prince Edward Island red soil." Abby smiled at them just before she whirled around and bounded out, and back to her lab.

"Take a look at this, McGee," Tony said, handing Tim a picture of the floor. McGee glanced at it and grinned, taking note of one particular spot. "Bingo," he said. "I'd need to take a close look, but I'm willing to bet that this right here," he said, pointing to the area of the floor that held a particular flaw, "will match the lividity marks that Ducky and Palmer found."

Gibbs breathed a big, heavy, sigh of relief. "So, we know where he probably died. And now we know how and why." His team looked at him, questioningly.

"I just got off the phone with Captain Douglas. They found a witness that saw someone - most likely our guy - being mugged and stabbed."

"In Halifax?" Kate asked, wanting confirmation.

"Yup. Our young visitor was murdered." He turned to Tony. "Tony, did you track down that potential witness at the shipyard?"

Tony nodded. "Would you believe, another homeless guy? Turns out the lock was broken on the container, that's why it was parked. And it looks like it was being used as a shelter by the guy. Oh, and I also found a dockworker. Him, I've got in interrogation. Wanna have a go at him, or shall I, Boss?"

Gibbs grinned, then said over his shoulder to his team as he departed for interrogation, "Good work, guys."

"I hope he meant me too," Kate said, frowning. Tony grinned. "Of course he did. Otherwise he would have complimented the boys, instead." He winked, the motioned them to follow him to interrogation, to observe.


	8. Likely Story

**Likely Story**

"So, let me get this straight," Gibbs said, scratching his chin and staring down the young dockworker across the table from him. "You opened the container from Halifax, found a guy in a pool of blood, and you didn't do anything about it?"

"I was freaked out, man. The smell was something else. It was just ugly. I didn't wanna stick around for that. I figured someone else would find him soon enough."

"And sure enough, when you went back, he was gone? Likely story, son. Likely story."

"He was! I swear it! But I saw ol' Ernie hangin' around the yards. Maybe he knows something. 'Course, he's a few stories short of a high-rise, if ya know what I mean."

"No, actually, I don't," Gibbs said, levelling a withering glare at him. "I'm done with you."

Gibbs got up, and walked out of the room.

"Tony, McGee. Go track down that homeless guy. I want to know why he moved the body."


	9. Final Farewell

**Final Farewell**

"So, you're saying Anthony, that the vagrant most likely dragged our young Canadian friend out of the container, and into the one that he had been finding shelter in?"

"He probably suffers from mental illness," Tony answered, shrugging. McGee nodded, adding, "He saw the body and thought he could find something useful on it. So he took it home with him."

"You're absolutely sure of this, DiNozzo?" Gibbs wanted to make sure. Tony nodded, looking at McGee with a slight tilt of his head. Tim held up a plastic evidence bag that held a small pouch. "This is a Cree medicine bag. Abby could confirm the contents but we wanted to leave it intact, to send home with him. We found it on Ernie's person." Tony added, "He stole it from Moonchild's body. Probably thought it was a little pouch of pot or something."

"When will he be ready to go home, Ducky?" McGee asked. Ducky smiled. "Mr. Palmer is finishing up with him right now. Arrangements have already been made. I have spoken with his widow, by the way. Lovely, lovely girl. She's devastated, but relieved to know what really happened."

Kate appeared. "I just talked to Captain Douglas. He's on his way now to pick up the body. He should be arriving tomorrow sometime. He tells me that Able Seaman Moonchild will be getting full military honours at his funeral. You know, I know he didn't die on American soil, but I'm glad we got to find out what really happened to him."

Gibbs nodded, as Abby entered. "I thought this might be useful," she said, a solemn expression in her normally bright eyes. She handed a small wrapped package to Gibbs. "For his casket, I mean."

Gibbs held the package delicately, knowing that it must be something meaningful by the sombre way Abs had presented it to him. He opened it carefully, and the entire team watched as he removed the folded Canadian flag from the inside.

The team smiled. "I'll get that down to Mr. Palmer. We want our young neighbour to be properly attired for his journey home," Ducky said.

Gibbs nodded, handing the flag over to the older man.

The team watched with a sad sort of satisfaction, as Ducky left to prepare Able Seaman Matthew Moonchild for his final farewell.


End file.
